Founded in the fall of 1991, Laurel Moon is Brandeis' oldest, national literary publication. Each issue we publish features original work from undergraduate students.
After Eloisa Amezcua
She wonders how a word
can be both an action and a feeling
like worry or war
you explain to her that in this
language one can be at war with oneself and
not with others. She says that makes no sense.
You tell her it’s a metaphor. She understands
metaphors she says,
telling you about a Bengali poet who was
so hungry he wrote a poem about
the moon looking like a roti,
telling you if you become an artist
you will starve.
You tell her that is a simile
because it uses the word like
to compare two objects–
and that there are other hungers
to address. She tells you
The only reason you think that
is because you have never seen
real poverty. You tell her
when you first read that a lake
is called a body of water
you felt such wonder.
Your teacher had to explain that no–
body is not like your body.
It means
vast and untouchable,
no human deformities.
You tell her
we need to find a way
to understand each other